Well the summer of '69 (Woodstock) was a lot different than the summer of '68 (Monterey). In that one year a lot had happened. The counter-culture had grown exponentially in that one year. The draft (starting at the 25 year olds), was down to 19 year olds. The number of people doing LSD had likewise increased by mass proportions. I credit Woodstock(didn't go - read about it on the front page of the news at breakfast at the Newport Jazz festival - Long Story), with that half million showing up to oppose the war and the fact that there was no violence was the final testament to the counter-culture. Another million that couldn't make it. Folks the Government was shaking in their boots. The culture was there, but Woodstock brought it together to show off its numbers. Even we, did not know it had gotten so big! Some people refer to Woodstock as the "sunset" of the counter-culture. I say bullshit! Almost all of us continued the Hippy lifestyle 'till the end of the 70s, despite the "war on the counter-culture" by the American Government!

Where have all the young men gone? Long time passingWhere have all the young men gone? Long time agoWhere have all the young men gone? Gone for soldiers every oneWhen will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?

Well, the Monterey International Pop Music Festival was the 16-18 June 1967 (exactly forty years almost to the date that I got into Airplane), but the film was released during the summer of 1968, so I don't blame babson for any confusion. I never have though, he was there and he was a part of it, and as the saying goes, "if you remember the 60s, you weren't really there", or however it goes.

But the whole counter-culture spread between 1967 and 1969 was like so many trends and movements somewhat based on the music. 1967 and Monterey introduced it all to the world, 1968 was when politics really entered it, and 1969 was the collision of music and politics in the great zenith of it all. 1970 was when the consequences came, but thankfully not all of the hippies stopped living that way just then. The spirit was kept for as long as they could keep it. The punk movement was like that, it was beginning and growing from 1974 to 1976, and was in the spotlight from 1977 to 1979, but people say punk died after that, but it didn't entirely. It just changed. Then it died, long after. Now it's a marketing campaign.

I don't think Woodstock particularly was some symbolic thing that meant the end or beginning of anything, I think it just happen to be at a certain time and place, and have a ton of extremely successful acts at the time. Considering who was there, I couldn't imagine over half a million people not showing up in the summer of 1969.

EmbryonicRabbit68 wrote:Well, the Monterey International Pop Music Festival was the 16-18 June 1967 (exactly forty years almost to the date that I got into Airplane), but the film was released during the summer of 1968, so I don't blame babson for any confusion. I never have though, he was there and he was a part of it, and as the saying goes, "if you remember the 60s, you weren't really there", or however it goes.

But the whole counter-culture spread between 1967 and 1969 was like so many trends and movements somewhat based on the music. 1967 and Monterey introduced it all to the world, 1968 was when politics really entered it, and 1969 was the collision of music and politics in the great zenith of it all. 1970 was when the consequences came, but thankfully not all of the hippies stopped living that way just then. The spirit was kept for as long as they could keep it. The punk movement was like that, it was beginning and growing from 1974 to 1976, and was in the spotlight from 1977 to 1979, but people say punk died after that, but it didn't entirely. It just changed. Then it died, long after. Now it's a marketing campaign.

I don't think Woodstock particularly was some symbolic thing that meant the end or beginning of anything, I think it just happen to be at a certain time and place, and have a ton of extremely successful acts at the time. Considering who was there, I couldn't imagine over half a million people not showing up in the summer of 1969.

How true. I think whatever your opinion (you in a general sense, not you in particular) about Woodstock is - is true. Woodstock just IS - it's neutral. Your opinion on if it ended the counterculture or not is all your own.

Though in my opinion, I think Woodstock was so over the top and huge that it's sort of inevitable that Altamont happened. I think Woodstock was amazing, though. It serves its purpose - a symbol of the 60s. Though in my opinion, Haight-Ashbury is a symbol of the 60s, not Woodstock .

With you standing here I could tell the world what it means to loveTo go on from here I can't use words, they don't say enough

Also helping to obscure the truth of the psychedelic experience are the many and various fads, marketing gimmicks, generic trappings, mainstream entertainment vehicles, and various other stylized accessories and accoutrements that came to represent it and, in the process, stereotype, codify, and obliterate it. Although things such as strobe lights, day glo paint, black lights, bell bottom pants, peasant blouses, granny glasses, long hair, beads, patches on blue jeans, incense and a host of other things came to embody the experience for some, they were, in the end, mere embellishments and not the thing itself.

Eventually, it got to the point where the Wall Street Journal headlined a page one article:

CALL IT PSYCHEDELICAND IT WILL SELL FAST, SOME MERCHANTS SAY

The writer of the article went on to say that “almost anything a writer might call psychedelic would sell, even wildly colored widgets that have been sitting on the store shelves for years.. . .Psychedelic is developing into a magic sales word.” (Masters 86) For musician and record producer Jack Nitzsche it was a matter of when “they put it on TV and it all became a costume.” (McDonough 214)

it died in 1967 after a brief life. as marty balin related to relix:

RELIX: When did you start to see a scene taking shape?

MARTY: There was a scene there, it just wasn't formed. As soon as everyone started doing something there were all these people suddenly, like light people, rock people, managers, and suddenly they were a scene. I remember it was really pretty and beautiful for a year or two and then Time magazine came out and they were interviewing me. I told the guy, "It's great that you're publicizing this beautiful-feeling scene out here," and he looked me right in the eye and said, "Fastest way to kill it."

The badness of Woodstock seems very American - far too big, and about to go out of control. But that had already happened to San Francisco in the latter half of 1967. The city was flooded with desperate teenage misfits who'd heard how wonderful the place was. (I speak as an ex-teenage misfit.)

Susan Butcher wrote:The badness of Woodstock seems very American - far too big, and about to go out of control. But that had already happened to San Francisco in the latter half of 1967. The city was flooded with desperate teenage misfits who'd heard how wonderful the place was. (I speak as an ex-teenage misfit.)

too much drag energy. too many people coming in wanting to take something out instead of putting something in.

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." — George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)

Haight-Ashbury, Woodstock. Don't forget Greenwich Village. Old Blue is right though! The more people flock to it, the quicker it dies! BTW Boston Common was a big sleeper to. Add in the ingredients that no one really knew what was going on most of the time.... There really must have been quite a number of sleeper areas for the counter-culture

Where have all the young men gone? Long time passingWhere have all the young men gone? Long time agoWhere have all the young men gone? Gone for soldiers every oneWhen will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?

I'll always be grateful to Spencer Dryden for those two songs. "'Package" has always been one of my favorite "songs" on "Baxter's". Zappa's influence, of course.Hi, nice to hear from you, JGuido, there are too few voices here.

Though in my opinion, I think Woodstock was so over the top and huge that it's sort of inevitable that Altamont happened. I think Woodstock was amazing, though. It serves its purpose - a symbol of the 60s. Though in my opinion, Haight-Ashbury is a symbol of the 60s, not Woodstock .

Haight-Ashbury was definitely popular. My opinion, It was where it all started, though Greenwhich Village was close behind. Woodstock should have never happened as the Haight-Ashbury declared the Hippy dead in 1967. They had absolutely no idea it was just beginning to spread across the nation. I would agree with ER, on the Music. Haight-Ashbury was THE music symbol of the 60s, though Jimmy Hendrix came from Renton Wa., And Janis from Texas. It however, did not have the bonding power Woodstock had. We had so much confidence after Woodstock because we, and the rest of the world now knew the numbers at Woodstock had told us our 60s culture was indeed real and "widespread", not just local to a Haight-Ashbury street corner in San Francisco.. My opinion, the Music was kinda lacking at Woodstock. 2/3 of the bands there I could do without, but that is just me. So while Haight-Ashbury was the 60s symbol of the birth and beginning of the Hippy culture and music, Woodstock was the 60s symbol of the peak of it, widespread, culturally, and politically, and musically only in the widespread distribution of the Haight-Ashbury Music, as well as the Greenwhich Village Music, and don't forget our LA Doors, and New York Velvet Underground. Therefore I officially disagree with ER in that Woodstock was not a symbol of the 60s. Especially since the peak of my my own pre-draft Hippy life was the summer of '69. The summer of '67 it was just a glint in the eye where I was and really had no happened yet, so frustrated people would run away to Haight-Ashbury. So to say that Woodstock was not a symbol of the 60s is a personal insult to me and my whole life, but I forgive you ER

Where have all the young men gone? Long time passingWhere have all the young men gone? Long time agoWhere have all the young men gone? Gone for soldiers every oneWhen will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?

Well, I never said Woodstock wasn't a symbol of the sixties, I said I don't think Woodstock meant the end or beginning of the counter culture and hippie movement. A lot of people have said they think it was the end of the hippie movement, and I've even heard some people say it was the beginning of it. It is indeed a symbol of the 60s, I just don't think it was something that meant the end or beginning of anything. It was just in it's time and place, where some consider it the end of the hippie movement. But that may have been because nothing that big ever topped it at that time, but yet people forget the Isle of Wight 1970! The attendance records there were between 600,000 and 700,000, possibly 800,000, and it had some of the same acts from Woodstock. I didn't mean to diminish Woodstock's role as a symbol of the 60s, I just don't think it was the end, and I'm really sorry if I offended you Babson, I intended no offense at all.